(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for manipulating disc-shaped phonograph records without requiring direct physical contact between a person's fingers and the recorded surface.
Phonograph records are made from soft plastic materials. For that reason, the grooves containing audio information on the record playing surface are easily scratched, resulting in degradation in the fidelity of the sound reproduced from a record which has been scraped by fingernail or other hard object. Moreover, the small size and spacing of the grooves on a record makes the grooves susceptible to contamination by abrasive dust, soil and oil from the hands, which can also result in degradation in the quality of the sound played back from the record. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide means for handling phonograph records which elminated the necessity for contact between the grooved playing surface of the record by any object, and especially the fingers. Thus, a need exists for a device which permits disc-shaped phonograph records to be picked up, manipulated and transported without requiring direct physical contact between a person's fingers and the grooved playing surface of the record. The present invention fulfills that need.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Morrison, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,589, Nov. 1, 1966, discloses a disc handler comprising a scissors-like device having at the end of one blade of the scissors a pin for engaging the spindle hole of a disc, and a truncated second blade of the scissors having a groove lying in a plane parallel to the pivoted plane of the scissors to engage the outer edge of a disc when the scissors are closed.
Onanian, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,558,169, Jan. 26, 1971, discloses a curved sleeve made of flexible material having a U-shaped inner channel adapted for sliding the sleeve over the edge of a disc. The front edges of the parallel sides of the sleeve forming the channel taper in opposite directions towards the respective outer edges of the sleeve which define its width. As a result of the tapered front edges, the front edges of the sleeve sides have the shape of non-overlapping triangular tabs which facilitate insertion of the long tab underneath the bottom edge of a disc. The disc is then grasped by squeezing upper and lower tabs together between the fingers.
Yokum, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,819, June 8, 1976, discloses a semicircular arm having a semicircular inwardly opening groove along its inner periphery, the groove being of a size that permits sliding the arm over the edge of a disc.
Smith, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,106, Aug. 16, 1977, discloses an essentially semi-circular sleeve made of soft paper or flexible material, for slipping over a record. The plan-view shape of the sleeve is a segment of circle slightly less than a full semi-circle, permitting the sleeve to be slid over a record without covering the spindle hole.
Schweizer, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,979, Mar. 21, 1978, discloses two parallel flexible opposed oval discs that may be slid over the edge of a record disc. The disc is grasped by applying finger pressure on the outer surfaces of the disc. The lower disc tapers forward to a point to facilitate inserting the front edge of the lower disc between two records. The upper disc has a flat upward curving front edge to prevent the upper disc from engaging the record edge at a single point.
Palmour et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,723,877, Nov. 14, 1955 discloses a phonograph record holding device comprising opposed spaced grooved "wing" members rigidly secured to a handle, and a separate manually controlled disc clamping means.